Today marks Obamacare's fifth birthday. It's a time for reflection, not celebration. Five years on, it's clear that the Affordable Care Act has failed to cut healthcare costs or improve quality and access -- contrary to what President Obama and his allies in Congress promised.

New post added at LibertyLog - No treason in Cotton’s Iran letter The letter amounted to a civics lesson informing the reader that treaties have to be ratified by the Senate. This is not only factually accurate but important for everyone to understand as Obama seeks to develop a “nonbinding” agreement with Iran and call it a deal. ...

Defenders of the Obama administration are claiming that a letter written by 47 senators to the leaders of Iran is an unlawful violation of the Logan act and potentially treason. It’s almost laughable to even justify these claims with a response but treason is a serious charge and not one that should be thrown around lightly. In fact the letter not only violated no laws it was not even the unprecedented intrusion into foreign affairs Obama’s supporters claim.
The narrative that the letter could be a felony is focused on the Logan act of 1799. The Logan act makes it a crime for unauthorized persons to engage in negotiations with a foreign government with the intent of undermining the US. The first problem of course is that Cotton never sent the letter to the ayatollahs or anyone in Tehran. It was an open letter he posted to a website and made available to the media.
The second problem with the narrative of GOP treason involves the contents of the letter. Despite what the media and the Obama acolytes would have you believe Cotton’s letter never addressed the specifics of any deal with Iran. It didn’t go into Iran’s nukes or make any offers in exchange for Iranian action. The letter amounted to a civics lesson informing the reader that treaties have to be ratified by the Senate. This is not only factually accurate but important for everyone to understand as Obama seeks to develop a “nonbinding” agreement with Iran and call it a deal.
Many Democrats, including Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson and Nancy Pelosi, have taken actions similar to or worse than Tom Cotton’s Iran letter. Yet now those same people scream “treason” when it happens to Obama? I am not suggesting two wrongs make a right but I am questioning the motivations and integrity of those making the charge. Reasonable people can disagree on the wisdom of a US Senator making such a letter available during critical negotiations. Throwing around charges of treason, a crime punishable by death, smacks of a cynical attempt to criminalize political opposite to Obama. That is a bridge the US must never cross.